Keep in mind that television, magazines, movies, and even newspapers rarely show images of average-shaped bodies.

Is there a secret? Yes. Anaïs Nin and Pauline Réage and Anne Rampling and Erica Jong all knew it. E. L. James knows it. It is the secret behind all of our writing. And our reading. Arousal starts in the mind. And grows in the mind. The brain is the most erogenous zone in a woman’s body. That is our secret. And it is what we share.

Perfume is magic. It's mystery. We recreate the smell of a flower. Of wood. Of grass. We capture the essence of life. Liquefy it. We store memories. We make dreams.

The secret, which is not so secret after all, is that the people who we love live on in our hearts, in the beat of our blood.

Self-body hate, like any hate or other strong negative emotion, contributes to unneeded weight gain by triggering junk-food cravings.

Sometimes love worked out, but more often it failed

What we do is a wonder, an art, and we have a responsibility to do it well.